Tyson recall affects institutions, not products available in stores

Tyson recall due to seven people becoming ill with Salmonella Heidelberg

Tyson recalls over 33,000 pounds of chicken for potential Salmonella Heidelberg contamination. The chicken recalled was mechanically separated, and produced on October 11th, 2013.

The mechanically separated chicken Tyson recalled was reportedly for institutional use only. This means that the chicken in question was potentially served to prisoners and schoolchildren.

The recall occurred after seven people became ill potentially from this mechanically separated chicken, all of them from a correctional facility in Tennessee. Two of the people required hospitalization, however no one died. Each of the seven who became ill were diagnosed as having Salmonella Heidelberg illnesses.

The link between Tyson and the Salmonella Hiedelberg outbreak was discovered by FSIS agents and the Tennessee Department of Health.

Facilities in possession of this batch of chicken are advised not to serve. For further information on the Tyson recall you may contact their consumer relations department at 866-886-8456.

According to Wikipedia, mechanically separated meat is defined as: “a paste-like meat product produced by forcing beef, pork, turkey or chicken, under high pressure through a sieve or similar device to separate the bone from the edible meat tissue. It is sometimes called “white slime” as an analog to pink slime and to meat extracted by advanced meat recovery systems, both of which are different processes. The process entails pureeing or grinding the carcass left after the manual removal of meat from the bones and then forcing the slurry through a sieve under pressure. This puree included bone, bone marrow, skin, nerves, blood vessels in addition to the scraps of meat remaining on the bones. The resulting product is a blend of muscle (meat) and other tissues not generally considered meat. Critics sometimes claim that it contains “eyeballs and guts”, but this is incorrect. The process is controversial; Forbes, for example, called it a “not-so-appetizing meat production process”